Well unfortunately it is that time of year again when we will need to put our boats to bed for the winter. What are your plans this year? There has been a lot of debate as to whether you should fill your tank or leave it as close to empty as possible with the new ethanol blends. My original plan was to leave my tank as empty as possible with the remaining fuel treated with Startron stabilizer. It seems to me the biggest issue is octane loss and the water absorption not as serious as originally thought. As circumstances would have it my boat is being left in NC at the factory for a good portion of the winter to have some cosmetic warranty work done as well as a few upgrades (additional rod racks and moving the fuel/water separator). NC does not use Ethanol so I will have to wait until next year to make any necessary Ethanol adjustments but I did run the tank down and use Startron for the full week I was in Harkers. Very interested to hear what you have done/plan to do. We can then share how it all worked out next year.

All I have ever done with my outboard (1990 40hp Evinrude) is top off the gas tank and add fuel stabilizer. I then run the outboard for about five minutes with the hose muffs attached to distribute the stabilizer, and I'm done.

This will be my fourth year doing it this way, and my engine has always started on the first crank in the spring. My fuel tank only holds six gallons, so your mileage may vary (pun intended).

Yup it's about that time of year again. I never seem to get it done till the snow begins to fly. I usually add stabilizer and have the tank near full. Supposedly cuts down on condensation in the tank. It's always a good idea to fog the carberators to cut down on rust in the cylinders and varnish in the carbs if you don't have injectors. Not a bad Idea to use old spark plugs for this as the plugs take a bath too.

Johnson and evinrude have shrader valves that make it very easy to do the job yourself. I'll be doing my new mercs later after bringing it my new boat back from florida by way of Harkers. I expect the have something similar in regards to fittings for fogging the carbs and cylinders.

My Whaler has 2, 9 gallon tanks. One was left full and treated with Stabil, the other was run dry and left empty. Ran the Stabil all thru the system and fogged the hell out of the motor. Pulled the batteries and wrapped with a tarp. I`ve never had a problem in the spring done this way. Then again it`s only 4 months before the boat gets back into action with the early holdovers.
Slinger

I've got an 85 gallon tank so it's tempting to tap the cheap gas prices and fill 'er up. I talked to the folks at Monahans and was told if you've got a plastic tank leave it empty as possible. Aluminum might get some corrosion if you leave it low all winter but if you fill it the octane loss may be an issue and you could be sputtering for the first few trips, not so great for the engine.
I've got 10 gallons left with a double shot of the Johnson 4+2 treatment which I run all season at the recommended mix.

Fogged it yesterday. Don't forget to grease all the zerks to push out any water. I also spray the CRC version of wd-40 all over the engine and grease any exposed moving parts. Wipe down the greased parts in the Spring and there should be no corrosion. Drain and refill the lower unit gear oil, no milk this year so my seal job is holding up well. Probably time for a water pump job but I think that will have to wait until Spring.